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Comment by bryanlarsen | Hacker News Reader

Rather than the silly "doubling" headline, there's another number that's much more interesting: that Linux users are 2% of steam users and OSX is 3%. Compare those numbers with total share: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_system.... OSX is at 7% and Linux at 1%.

It'll be really interesting to see where the Steam numbers end up when they stabilize.

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What complicates matters is there's no good way of knowing how many Steam "Windows" users are people who use OS X or Linux as their main OS but boot into Windows to use Steam because of poor graphics card drivers.

Yup. I'm definitely included in this bunch. My graphics card (Nvidia Optimus) doesn't work on Linux, so I'd much rather dual boot and game on Windows.

Have you tried Bumblebee? http://bumblebee-project.org/ I've heard that people get their Optimus cards to work well with it.

Yup, using Bumblebee with primus-run and CS:S runs perfectly smooth on my laptop.

A very related group runs Steam in WINE so they can launch and play Windows-only games. That must skew numbers significantly as well, and unless you only play TF2, Linux users are probably being counted as both Linux and Windows users because they play one game in Linux and another in WINE.

I would think by trends a gamer is more likely to a more technical person. I love linux but frankly I know many people who can barely use a mac, and linux is beyond their technical capabilities without much learning. So I'd currently guess that linux will end up with a higher percentage on steam stats than other stats. Also, many people once choose windows solely to play games. Linux platforms offer lots of potential once the kinks get worked out and the critical tipping point is passed, which steam may just have crossed with a single step.

Many distributions have made huge steps in being usable for non-technical people. My mom and GF both use Trisquel without problems (well, fewer problems than most Windows users I know).

Of course, it does take a technical person to install it for them.

I find Windows 8 to be more complicated than Ubuntu. Most people won't be able to figure out gestures and it becomes way to cumbersome to use Windows 8 on a non-touch screen setup. On the other hand Ubuntu has a dash, type the name of software and it's there. As simple as it can get.

If i recall correctly you don't need to use any gestures or click anywhere to lookup a program in Windows 8. Just start typing the name on the Start Screen and it will search it up. Wasn't it touted as one of the plusses of Windows 8? Alternatively, you can pin the application to the start screen.

It would be interesting to see purchase reports and not just usage as a developer too.

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